Narcissus Dutch Lemon Drops

Narcissus 'Dutch Lemon Drops' is a selection of the botanical triandrus daffodil, offering in early spring several nodding white flowers with a narrow pale yellow crown on each stem. This refined flowering, with soft colours, recalls that of wild daffodils. Planted in small groups, it enlivens borders and the base of deciduous shrubs from the first fine days. Its light shades stand out well among blue, mauve or purple flowers.

This cultivar belongs to the Amaryllidaceae family. It is part of Division 5, the triandrus daffodils. Varieties in this group carry up to six inclined flowers per stem, with a short crown and tepals often swept back. They have similar characteristics to Narcissus triandrus, the triandrus daffodil. This species is native to the Iberian Peninsula and north-western France, where it is notably represented in the Glénan archipelago. In the wild, it grows in clearings, heathlands, lawns and crevices in acidic rocks.
'Dutch Lemon Drops' is a Dutch horticultural selection. J. S. Pennings registered it in the International Daffodil Register in 2007. It is a bulbous perennial: its bulb remains in the ground during summer and produces new leaves and flower stems each spring. Each bulb produces a narrow clump of linear, supple leaves of a slightly bluish green. The leafless flower scapes are 25 to 35cm tall. They bear up to three flowers, facing the ground. Each flower has narrow, oval, spreading tepals, sometimes slightly recurved. They open creamy white, with a very pale yellow tinge near the tube. The short and slightly flared central crown is a light lemon yellow. The flowers appear between March and April, even until May in cold regions. After flowering, the leaves continue to nourish the bulb, then yellow and disappear before summer. The plant multiplies by producing bulblets and slowly forms a wider clump. For several years, this white and yellow daffodil was sold under the name 'Lemon Drops'. The name 'Dutch Lemon Drops' was registered to distinguish it from another cultivar named 'Lemon Drops', entirely yellow and registered in 1956. The Royal Horticultural Society awarded it an Award of Garden Merit in 2002; this distinction now appears under the corrected name 'Dutch Lemon Drops'.

Narcissus 'Dutch Lemon Drops' performs best planted in groups of 10 to 20 bulbs, at the front of a border, in a lawn that is not mown too short or under deciduous shrubs. It is also suitable for growing in a pot, where its nodding flowers can be observed up close. In a cool border or a light woodland edge, it pairs naturally with Anemone nemorosa 'Robinsoniana', Scilla siberica 'Spring Beauty' and Pulmonaria 'Trevi Fountain'; their blue or mauve flowers bring out its ivory and lemon yellow tints. Brunnera macrophylla Silver Heart® takes over and gradually masks the daffodil foliage as it yellows.